Numbers show why Vandy baseball is struggling

Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin makes his way to the third base line during their game against Illinois-Chicago at Hawkins Field Friday Feb. 21, 2014, in Franklin, Tenn.(Photo: George Walker IV George Walker IV / THE TENNESSEAN)Buy Photo

It's easy to point a finger at the erratic bats in Vanderbilt's ever-changing lineup.

But the numbers show there are bigger reasons why the No. 11 Commodores (26-8, 6-6 SEC) are mired in an SEC standings logjam heading into their fifth conference series starting Friday against Texas A&M (20-14, 5-7).

Vanderbilt, which hangs its hat on stingy starting pitching, an airtight bullpen and dependable defense, is lagging a bit in the areas for which its revered program is best known.

The good news is every other SEC team seems to have its own set of shortcomings. That is why no one is separating itself from the field like the Commodores did last season, and why Tim Corbin's squad is only two games out of first despite last week's disappointing, injury-riddled series at Tennessee.

Among the stats Vanderbilt needs to spruce up this weekend is its fielding percentage, which at .946 in league games is the SEC's worst by a fairly wide margin.

Vanderbilt's 26 errors in 12 SEC games – eight more than the next closest team – help explain why the staff's ERA (3.53) is in the middle of the pack but its runs allowed (64) is the second highest in league play due to 23 unearned runs (1.9 per game).

Here are a few more numbers to get you ready for this weekend's series:

4: Leads Vanderbilt has blown in SEC games. The Commodores have given away the lead in one loss of each SEC series, doubling their number of comeback wins in league play (two).

18: Different combinations of Commodores who have batted in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots in the order.

74: Combination of walks (43), wild pitches (17) and hit batsmen (14) by Vanderbilt pitchers in league games, the largest total for any SEC staff.